Glossary

A technology-enabled learning tool that provides a multimedia object for which a student has access to the entire video environment, even as the video plays. A 3D video can be watched just like any normal (2D) video on a computer, with the added functionality of "looking around" from the viewpoint of the camera. Some 3D videos can be experienced in a virtual reality (VR) environment through a VR headset, but it is distinguishable from a true VR environment in that it only entails video, not interaction with any real- or virtual-world objects.

The practice of ensuring that content, products, services, technologies, and environments are able to be used and navigated by persons with vision, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and ADA Title II guarantee accessibility as a civil right; violation of those civil rights may result in fines and lawsuits in addition to negative student experiences.

Digital accessibility, specifically, is the process of making digital information, products, and services such as online course content, online platforms, video/audio, websites, and apps accessible to the widest range of users possible, including persons with disabilities. Digital accessibility must be considered when using any technology in CarmenCanvas, including Carmen itself. Some common areas to be mindful of include video captions, alternate text for images, formatting and structure of documents, specific technology platforms, and types of assessments.

For additional information about accessibility policies at Ohio State, visit the Digital Accessibility Center.

An adjustment or assistance for a student with a disability, such as alterations to testing environments, alternative formats for course materials, or changes in attendance or deadline policies. Accommodations are meant to eliminate disability-based obstacles to learning and provide equal opportunities for success. Learn more about accommodations at Ohio State.

Any instructional method that actively engages students in the learning process. Active learning provides all students with the opportunities to practice, in low-stakes but high-impact ways, the skills and thinking processes they will need to successfully meet the learning outcomes for the course.

A method in which a reader engages with and reflects on a text before, during, and after reading. Active reading may involve strategies like previewing the text before reading, annotating the text, or adjusting the reading approach based on the type of text or on an assignment that incorporates the text.

A technology-enabled teaching strategy that provides a customized learning experience for each student based upon mastery of content. In a course that employs adaptive learning, students are directed to specific course materials based upon their performance on assessments that measure their existing knowledge and skill levels. Students who perform well on these assessments might advance to more challenging materials, whereas students who do not perform as well might be directed to more remedial materials to help with content mastery. Adaptive learning can be implemented in CarmenCanvas using features such as module requirements, module prerequisites, and mastery paths.

The ability for a student to pay for course materials without financial hardship. A course is considered to be affordable when the cost of texts and other fees are low or nonexistent.

Text that describes an image or other non-text content on a web page or document. Alternative text, often called alt text, can be identified by a screen reader to help blind or visually impaired readers understand the meaning of visual elements. As such, alt text is necessary to include for any visual that serves more than a decorative function.

The Analytics tool in CarmenCanvas allows you to see students' aggregated weekly activity. You can sort activity by resource, which means you don't have to comb through individual student data records to find out what items are getting the most attention from students. You can see how students are engaging with your course by viewing data for specific course pages, files, assignments or other resources. Learn more about Analytics. 

Resources offered alongside the main course content that provide guidance on the foundational or related skills needed for students to successfully complete assignments and learning activities. For example: help articles for technology tools, library tutorials for conducting research, citation guides and sample works cited lists, and support materials for the writing process.

In CarmenCanvas, Announcements allow instructors to communicate with students about course activities and post interesting course-related topics. Announcements are designed to allow instructors to broadcast information out to all members of a course or to all members of sections within a course. Learn more about Announcements. 

A method, approach, or tool for the collection and analysis of student learning. Assessment can be formative or summative, formal or informal, and graded or ungraded. Examples of assessment include quizzes, tests, homework, in-class practice activities, papers and projects, and many more. Learn more about Designing Assessments of Student Learning.

In CarmenCanvas, a submission through which students display knowledge. Assignments include Quizzes, graded Discussions, and online submissions​​​​​. CarmenCanvas also allows instructors to set up assignment groups. Assignment groups are a way for instructors to group assignment types together, as well as weight assignments for final grades. Learn more about Assignments.

Learning that happens when students take in the same material and engage in the same activities at different times and locations. In asynchronous learning environments, the instructional materials, activities, and assessments for a given module are available for students to complete on their own schedule according to a predetermined pace, typically weekly. To maintain this pace, the instructor establishes a series of internal deadlines to which students must adhere.

A verbal description of visual content in media or live productions to help those with visual impairments understand key information or follow what is happening. Audio descriptions provide important details about content that is expressed visually (rather than through audio), such as actions, gestures, expressions, and scenery. They are included as part of a video's narration or as a separate recording intended to supplement to the main video content.

The use of computer-generated sensory information integrated into a real-world environment. While AR is grounded in real-world environments, it features a computer-generated overlay to provide participants a more immersive experience and a wealth of information.

Assessments that demonstrate the learner's ability to perform real-life skills or tasks, often for public audiences outside the classroom. Also authentic assignments.

In CarmenCanvas, the period of time during which an assignment, discussion, quiz, or survey is available to students. When editing an assignment, instructors will enter a due date. If the instructor wants to allow students access to the assignment only for a specific amount of time, they will enter a date and time in the Available From option as well as a date and time in the Until option. This creates a window of time when students are able to access the assignment and submit it. Instructors can also specify a window of time in which students are able to view correct answers within a quiz. When editing a quiz, the instructor should check the Let Students See the Correct Answers checkbox, which will allow the instructor to specify when to show and hide correct answers. Learn more about due dates and availability dates. 

A results-oriented framework for course and curriculum design in which you set learning goals and learning outcomes before planning the assessments of learning, content, and teaching strategies that align with—and support students to achieve—those goals and outcomes.

Learn more in Using Backward Design to Plan Your Course.

Learning that results from a purposeful and effective integration of both online and face-to-face instructional methods. Blended learning allows for the use of face-to-face time to establish and maintain communities of inquiry within the classroom, while the online environment helps instructors assess and monitor student learning. Researchers assert that the primary "test" for blended learning is the course's successful integration of these two core components. Instructors at Ohio State can implement blended learning in an in-person (P), hybrid (HY), or distance-enhanced (DH) class.

1.  A common framework for thinking about and articulating course and lesson learning outcomes that is used widely across K-12 and university educational settings
2. A classification system used to define and distinguish different levels of human cognition to help researchers and educators understand the fundamental ways in which students acquire and develop new knowledge, skills, and understanding
   
   Read more about Bloom's Taxonomy.

Bottlenecks are where some students in a course may struggle, get stuck, be unable to complete required tasks, or move forward in their learning (Decoding the Disciplines; Middendorf & Baer, 2019).

An activity designed to increase interactivity in online courses through the use of branching, multi-choice narratives. These branching activities are akin to the Choose Your Own Adventure™ series of gamebooks, requiring learners to make decisions from a preselected flowchart of choices. Often, the activity will present a scenario followed by a decision point that branches into different pathways and eventually leads to specific end points based upon the choices that students make along the way. These activities increase interactivity and student engagement, transform passive learning activities into active learning experiences, reinforce and apply information that students have learned, and provide self-paced, customized learning.

In CarmenZoom, breakout rooms allow meeting hosts to temporarily divide meeting participants into multiple smaller group sessions that the host can join. The meeting host can reconvene the larger group at any time. Learn more about Zoom breakout rooms. 
 

In CarmenCanvas the Calendar is a global feature that allows users to view assignments and events from all courses in one place. Events can be viewed by day, week, month, or agenda list. Calendar assignments and events can be synced with other web service calendars. Learn more about the Calendar

In contrast to "calling out," a compassionate strategy for resolving conflict that assumes positive intent from the person who has acted or spoken in an offensive manner and extends an opportunity for them learn, change their thinking or behavior, and rejoin the community they have harmed. Learn more about calling in.

A repository for content shared by users of Canvas. Instructors can search Canvas Commons for any content type (for example, a quiz, page, module, or even entire course) to import into their own courses. Content found in Canvas Commons is licensed for reuse and modification. Learn more about accessing and using the Commons. 

The vendor help and community website for Canvas. On Canvas Community, users can ask questions, find answers, share ideas, join user groups, or access the many help guides published by Canvas. Explore the Canvas Community.

Vendor guides that offer complete information on how to use Canvas. Guides are available to all users of Canvas. For students, Canvas Guides provide detailed information on topics related to using Canvas as a student. Explore the Canvas Guides. 

Instructure, the vendor behind CarmenCanvas, provides several mobile apps, available on Android and iOS, that allows instructors and students to access Carmen on mobile devices. The Canvas Student app is intended for students and the Canvas Teacher app is intended for instructors. Learn more about the Canvas mobile apps.

A student-authored list of ten straightforward suggestions Ohio State instructors can follow to create a more student-friendly CarmenCanvas course experience. Learn more about Carmen Common Sense.

CarmenBooks is a program integrated with CarmenCanvas that offers digital copies of selected textbooks as well as access to publisher homework systems for a fraction of the retail cost. Learn more about CarmenBooks.

CarmenCanvas is Ohio State’s learning management system (LMS), powered by Canvas. To assist in the creation of online courses, OTDI provides an online course template in Canvas Commons that instructors and instructional designers may customize to fit their instructional needs. Learn more about CarmenCanvas.

CarmenZoom is the academic audio and web conferencing solution for Ohio State, used for remote teaching, advising appointments, group projects and more. Learn more about CarmenZoom.

A form of teaching and learning that organizes the learning experience to focus on one competency at a time, requiring students to master each competency before moving on. Ohio State is not accredited to offer competency-based learning experiences for credit.

A bundle of rights that protect original works of authorship and include the right to reproduce, create derivatives, distribute, publish, perform, and display a work, as well as to prepare derivative works. Copyright was established in the U.S. Constitution to "promote the progress of science and the useful arts" (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8) by giving authors control over their works for a limited time. Learn more about copyright.

A learning experience in which an entire class of students collaborate with each other and their instructor(s) during class to investigate a research question or problem that is relevant to external stakeholders. Learn more about CUREs.

A measure of the amount of work required for a course. The Department of Education calls for a minimum of approximately one nominal hour (50 minutes) of class time and two hours for independent student work per week, per credit hour for a C average. More information regarding Ohio State's policies on credit hours can be found on the Registrar's website. Instructors can also refer to the Credit Hour Estimation page to help determine the amount of time students might need to complete work in a particular course. (For example, a three-credit, 14-week course would, according to those policies, require three hours of structured learning time for students per week plus an average of six hours of homework and assignment preparation.)

The ability to find, use, and evaluate digital media and to effectively communicate and create content with digital tools. See also information literacy.

In CarmenCanvas, Discussions are a collaborative space where students can post, read, and reply to messages on different topics. Discussions are also a place where students can share thoughts about the course materials, ask questions, share files, or work with peers on assignments and homework. Discussions can be graded or ungraded. Instructors can also set up group discussions to allow students to work together in smaller sections, which can be particularly useful for larger classes. Learn more about Discussions.

A laboratory activity where students conduct experiments at home or in their local environment using at-home laboratory kits or everyday materials found at home or in local stores. 

In CarmenCanvas, the date and time an assignment, discussion, or quiz is due. Even when a due date is set, students who do not submit the assignment by the due date may still complete the assignment, which will be flagged as late. Unless changed, due dates will be set to 11:59 p.m. on the selected date. Learn more about due dates.

Individuals who work with instructors, or in partnership with instructional designers and other staff, to create engaging learning objects, course websites, or course materials. Educational technologists use existing university tools or research additional tools that can be used to help students achieve desired learning objectives.

Three key literacy areas—Data Analysis, Advanced Writing, and Technology—that are expected to be integrated, or embedded, across The Ohio State University's General Education (GE) program and developed throughout a student’s major coursework and undergraduate experience. Within the GE program, an embedded literacy can be met through a specific course that addresses all of the expected learning outcomes (ELOs) for that area, or through a set of courses that meet those ELOs. The ways in which an individual student satisfies the requirements for each embedded literacy is determined by their major and the academic program offering the degree.

Learn more about embedded literacies in the GE program.

An encompassing phrase used to describe environments featuring augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR). It refers to the integration of real-world and virtual-world information in many varieties of human-computer interaction.

An application that is not among the university-supported set of tools. Ohio State has not worked with the vendor to enable integration with CarmenCanvas or to ensure that the tool meets Ohio State's accessibility and security requirements. While external tools may enable instructors to add additional functionality to their course, they should be used with caution. More information regarding external tools can be found on the Course Tools and External Integrations page.

A purposefully curated digital collection of work, artifacts, and reflections that demonstrate student learning and evidence of growth. Learn more about ePortfolios.

An instructional strategy that reverses traditional teaching methods. In a flipped classroom, the activities that students often do in class are done at home and vice versa. The main tenet for the flipped classroom model is that students focus on knowledge acquisition outside of the classroom through examination of pre-recorded lectures and other video and multimedia. During class sessions, students focus on collaborative work and completion of assignments. This model allows for more active learning to occur in the classroom space, whether the classroom is an online one or a physical one.

Methods of assessing learning that provide students with frequent low-stakes practice coupled with immediate and focused feedback. These are typically in-class learning activities or informal assignments that help educators assess student learning during the learning process, enabling students to receive feedback on their progress and performance while there is still time to make adjustments. Formative assessment may or may not be graded, but it should be low-stakes enough to encourage learners to take risks and make mistakes, rather than to focus on demonstrating mastery.

Some examples of formative assessments include multiple-attempt quizzes, in-class polling, brief reflections or quick writes, homework, rough drafts, and in-class group work.

See also summative assessment.

Previously referred to as a master course, a forum course is a CarmenCanvas course shell that is not connected to the Registrar's system. It is a dedicated, consistent space for building instructional materials allowing instructors time to build a course the way they want, when they want, and update it as needed. Once the forum course is built, copy it each semester into the academic course shell. Learn more about forum courses.

The CarmenCanvas Gradebook helps instructors easily input and distribute grades for students. Grades for each assignment can be calculated as points, percentages, complete or incomplete, pass or fail, GPA scale, and letter grades, and assignments can be organized into groups for weighting as well. Learn more about the Gradebook.

In CarmenCanvas, Groups are a small version of a course and used as a collaborative tool where students can work together on group assignments, pages, collaborations, projects, and more. Learn more about Groups.

Eleven experiences recognized by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) that promote students’ engagement, facilitate deep learning, and bolster positive outcomes for historically underserved student populations. They include: first-year seminars and experiences, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects, undergraduate research, diversity and global learning, service- or community-based learning, internships, capstone courses or projects, and ePortfolios. Learn more about high-impact practices.

HyFlex (hybrid-flexible) is a type of course in which an instructor simultaneously teaches online and in-person. Some HyFlex courses may permit students to choose whether to attend class in person or online from week to week, while others may have specific groups of students who always attend in one particular modality. If instructors plan to offer a HyFlex course, attendance expectations should be communicated clearly in the schedule notes, as well as in the course syllabus.

Ohio State's Student Information System itself does not provide any straightforward way to communicate this arrangement. Therefore it is recommended to provide separate sections for each mode, one in-person (P) and one distance learning (DL), because students pay on-campus fees if the class is labeled as hybrid (HY), even if they attend fully online throughout the term.

The set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning (Association of College & Research Libraries, Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education). Learn more about information literacy.

Staff members who collaborate with instructors in the design and development of (usually) online and hybrid courses. IDs use a backward design approach to the design (or redesign) of a class—assignments, teaching methods, and learning environment—based on the instructor’s student learning goals and outcomes. IDs provide expertise and experience related to effective pedagogy and evidence-based teaching practices. 

Instructure is the vendor for Canvas. CarmenCanvas is the Ohio State instance of Canvas.

A video that prompts students to answer questions or otherwise interact with the content as they watch. For example, an instructor might embed a short video lecture into their CarmenCanvas course that allows for breaks to test student comprehension before moving on in the lecture. Instructors can use Ohio State’s Mediasite lecture-capture tool to embed short knowledge-check questions into a video.

An instructional method through which students are shown proper techniques, equipment, or information about processes and procedures in a lab environment. Online, these can be presented as videos, images, diagrams, illustrations, or robust interactive activities with multiple components.

A small, cross-disciplinary group of six to eight educators who meet regularly over the course of one academic year to learn together about topics related to teaching and learning. A learning community is designed to be a supportive environment where participants can learn about specific teaching strategies, try out new approaches, and reflect on successes and challenges. 

The learning community model was first developed over 40 years ago at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and is used today at universities across the world.

Broad statements that describe what learners should know or care about by the end of a course or curriculum. Learning goals indicate the course or curriculum's intended purpose and desired achievements and identify "big picture" knowledge, skills, and capacities students should achieve by its conclusion.

In contrast to course learning outcomes, goals are "fuzzy" because they describe how students should change internally as the result of a course; learning goals often begin with imprecise verbs that cannot be observed, such as “know” and “understand.” 

A platform used for the administration of courses. In online courses, the LMS typically houses all course content and assessments. CarmenCanvas is Ohio State’s LMS.

Specific statements that describe what learners should know or be able to do at the end of a course or curriculum. Learning outcomes are aligned to course learning goals, but in contrast to goals, they are stated in concrete, observable, and measurable terms and typically beginning with an action verb. Learning outcomes are sometimes called expected learning outcomes (ELOs).

Learning technologies are the broad range of communication, information, and related technologies that are used to support learning, teaching, and assessment in an in-person, hybrid, or online course (Association for Learning Technology, 2020). Learn more about the learning technologies available at Ohio State. 

An approach to learning that requires students to achieve a specific level of mastery (for example, scoring above 90% on a knowledge test) before moving on to the next lesson. 

A video and lecture capture tool used to record class sessions or lectures using a Hardware Recorder, screen or slide share with audio or video from a desktop computer, and upload recordings to university servers. Learn more about Mediasite.

A lecture capture technology that is integrated into the podiums of specific pool classrooms and captures whatever is projected on the classroom's screen, as well as the instructor's audio. Learn more about the Hardware Recorder.

An awareness of one's thinking or learning processes. In the context of education, metacognition refers to a student's ability to understand and assess their performance and, in response, to regulate behaviors, habits, or approaches to learning. Instructors can promote metacognition through a range of strategies that improve students’ learning and success.

An Ohio State unit that provides teaching support focused on improving the learning experience for students. The Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning aims to achieve former President Drake's goal to make the university as highly regarded for world-class teaching as it is for research. The University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT) merged with the Drake Institute in December 2018.

A teaching delivery mode where students attend class in real-time, but some students attend in-person while others attend remotely. Learn more about using classroom technology for mixed delivery courses. 

Modality or mode is the delivery method of a course. Ohio State offers courses in the following modes:

In-Person (P)

Conducted in person, with or without a limited amount of direct online instruction and interaction. 0-24% of formalized instruction and interaction occurs at a distance. 

For a 3-credit semester class, students can expect:

• Scheduled classroom time on campus each week, usually totaling just under 3 hours (includes classes broadcast live to regional campus classrooms)
• Possibly some instruction and interaction online
• An average of 6 or more hours of preparation and homework each week

Hybrid (HY)

Conducted both in-person and online. 25-74% of formalized instruction and interaction occurs at a distance.

For a 3-credit semester course, students can expect:

• Instruction time equal to a 3-credit in-person class, with some of this instruction occurring online
• On-campus and distance components may alternate consistently or only certain class sessions may be on-campus
• An average of 6 or more hours of preparation and homework each week

Distance Enhanced (DH)

Conducted primarily online and enhanced by some in-person events. 75-99% of instruction is offered at a distance; some campus component is required.

For a 3-credit semester class, students can expect:

• During most weeks of the class, 2.5-3 hours of instructional activity and interaction is conducted online
• One or more required on-campus sessions
• An average of 6 or more hours of preparation and homework each week

Distance Learning (DL)

Offered completely online with no in-person components. 100% of instruction is offered at a distance.

For a 3-credit semester class, students can expect:

• No campus location will appear on the class schedule.
• 0 hours of required time on campus (including for exams)
• 3 hours per week, on average, of instructional activity and interaction conducted online
• An average of 6 or more hours of preparation and homework each week

For information on considerations for virtual delivery modes, view the Virtual Course Components Scheduling Job Aid.

An instructional unit within a larger course or curriculum, usually organized by chronology, topic, or theme. Most online courses are set up with modules that correspond to the weeks or main topics of the semester, and learners proceed through them in chronological order. Each module will have a title and can include a combination of pages, discussions, assignments, quizzes, surveys, or links to files or external websites. 

CarmenCanvas enables you to arrange your course content in Modules. Learn more about Modules in Carmen.

An introductory explanation of a module's content, which can be incorporated on a page at the beginning of a module. A module overview can encompass that module's learning outcomes and highlight the content and major assignments a student should expect to encounter.

In CarmenCanvas, a feature that requires students to complete specific requirements in order to unlock and gain access to a module. Learn more about module prerequisites.

In CarmenCanvas, a feature that requires students to finish specific tasks before a module can be marked complete. Learn more about module requirements.

Learning that involves the processing of visual and verbal information through dual channels. Based in Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), the body of research on multimedia learning recognizes that working memory is limited and that humans actively process incoming information to form a coherent mental representation of experiences. CLT prescribes a set of best practices for instructional or educational video that reinforces what students hear using both words and pictures.

An assignment that incorporates more than one medium of expression or communication. A multimodal assignment could include text, audio components, and video or other visuals.

Offering a variety of ways for students to demonstrate their learning on assignments and assessments. Multiple means of action and expression is one of the guiding principles of Universal Design for Learning.

Offering a variety of ways for students to interact with the course content, their peers, and the instructor. Multiple means of engagement is one of the guiding principles of Universal Design for Learning.

Offering a variety of ways (i.e., formats and media) for students to receive course content. Multiple means of representation is one of the guiding principles of Universal Design for Learning.

An Ohio State unit that supports faculty, students and staff across all Ohio State campuses, providing technology resources and education to the Ohio State community. Formerly the Office of Distance Education and eLearning (ODEE) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Learn more about OTDI.

Instructional material that is openly licensed or in the public domain and is therefore free for users. OER materials typically have no or few restrictions on the way the content is used, adapted, or distributed.

A student's autonomy and agency in guiding the direction of their learning. Ownership of learning offers students choice and encourages responsibility over the way they engage with course content and demonstrate their learning, which can increase their motivation.

In CarmenCanvas, pages display course content. Instructors can use the rich content editor, add links to documents, or embed videos or other materials. Pages are added to modules within the course to assist students in navigating course content. Learn more about Pages.

A collaborative, co-constructive teaching strategy in which students are guided through the process of learning by someone who has a similar level of prior knowledge, approach to learning, and application of the subject of instruction, as well as the same approximate level of power or authority.

A structured and guided process, often included by instructors as one stage in a writing assignment, in which students have the opportunity to get feedback from their classmates on their writing. Effective peer review involves establishing clear criteria and prompts to help students learn how to give meaningful feedback, and should also involve writers reflecting on how they will respond to the feedback they are given. Learn more about peer review.

A stable or permanent URL that is intended to remain the same for many years, producing a hyperlink that is less susceptible to link breakage. It is best practice for Ohio State instructors to use permalinks from the library catalog for electronic articles and texts. A permalink may require the Ohio State proxy to ensure students have access off campus. More information regarding the creation of permalinks can be found on the Linking to Library Licensed Resources page from the Ohio State University Libraries website.

Columbus campus classrooms that are part of a classroom pool centrally scheduled by the University Registrar and supported by Office of Technology and Digital Innovation(OTDI) Classroom Services in conjunction with the Classroom Readiness Committee. There are around 330 pool classrooms on Ohio State's Columbus campus.

An assessment given after an assignment, after a unit of the course, or at the end of the semester to gauge what students have learned and help them to reflect on a topic or assignment. When paired with a pre-assessment, a post-assessment can help track a learner's growth over a period of time. 

An assessment given at the outset of the course or before a specific assignment or unit to gauge what a student already knows about a topic. When paired with a post-assessment, a pre-assessment can help track a learner's growth over a period of time.

Supervising or monitoring an assignment. Proctoring ensures academic integrity during exams taken on campus or in an online course. It also ensures a level playing field for all students. Honorlock is the approved and licensed proctoring solution for online exams in CarmenCanvas at Ohio State. More information on proctoring and Honorlock can be found on the Proctoring Options at Ohio State page.

A group of people protected from discrimination and harassment based on specific characteristics they share. 

Protected classes are defined by federal law, executive order, federal agencies, or Ohio State policy. Protected classes include age, ancestry, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDS status, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status, or any other bases under the law. 

Visit the Office of Institutional Equity website to learn more about protected class. 

Integrations of applications not affiliated with CarmenCanvas. Publisher tools allow instructors to incorporate materials from a publisher inside of their CarmenCanvas course, thus providing students a single point of entry for content. Examples of publisher tools include Cengage, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, and Pearson. More information regarding publisher tools can be found on the CarmenCanvas Integrations page.

In CarmenCanvas, a method for the instructor to test student knowledge. Quizzes may be designated as practice or graded. Quizzes include questions, which are set up either individually within the quiz or via question banks. Question types include multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, multiple answer, matching, numeric answer, formula, essay, file upload, or text-only. Optional features, such as time limits, single question per page, and shuffled questions, can help ensure academic integrity. Quizzes can also be tied to course or program learning outcomes through the Outcomes tool. Learn more about Quizzes.

Regular and substantive interaction is generally characterized by students and instructors interacting in a recurrent fashion—either synchronously or asynchronously—through the use of instructional technologies. There are four key elements: 1) interaction initiated by the instructor, 2) regular and frequent interaction, with weekly interaction being the baseline, 3) meaningful interaction of an academic nature, and 4) interaction initiated by academic personnel who meet accrediting body standards.

The Department of Education defines substantive interaction as "interaction [that] is engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment" and can include but is not limited to direct instruction, grading and feedback, facilitation of class discourse, and responsiveness to student questions and concerns.

Learn more about regular and substantive interaction.

Assignments or activities in which students are required to locate and use multiple information sources in order to explore or analyze an issue, propose an answer to a question or solution to a problem, and/or create or share knowledge.

A proctoring tool available at Ohio State. If enabled by the instructor, Respondus requires students to download and use a specific web browser in order to take an online quiz via CarmenCanvas and prevents them from navigating elsewhere on their computers. Learn more about Respondus LockDown Browser. .

An assessment tool that articulates the expectations for an assignment by listing explicit criteria to encourage both transparency and consistency in scoring. Rubrics are usually made up of rows that label or define criteria and columns that explain the performance expectations or scoring for each criterion.

In CarmenCanvas, Rubrics allow you to set up custom assessment criteria for scoring the assignments you create in Carmen. Learn more about Rubrics in Canvas.

The process of allowing students to practice certain components of a larger task or skill and to receive feedback on their progress through multiple, low-stakes assignments. Often it is helpful to scaffold large, summative assignments by breaking them up into smaller units of formative assessment spread out throughout the term. Scaffolding can also be an opportunity to practice a complex skill multiple times, beginning with a simple application and increasing in complexity with each future iteration.

Examples: Students receive feedback across the semester on an annotated bibliography, an abstract, one body paragraph, and a rough draft before submitting their final paper. Students receive feedback across the semester on setting up a specimen dish, identifying pre-made samples, and sampling a simple specimen before finally sampling a complex specimen.

Ohio State's online portal for securely streaming select commercial media to your classroom and to your students outside of class. Often referred to as the SML. Learn more about the Secured Media Library

Courses that do not follow a preset schedule. All course materials and assignments are available as soon as the course begins, and students complete the work at their own pace with no expectation of adherence to a predetermined schedule or due dates. Ohio State is not accredited to offer self-paced courses for credit. (See also competency-based learning.)

A form of experiential education characterized by student participation in an organized service activity that is aligned to specific learning outcomes, meets identified community needs, and provides structured time for students to reflect upon and connect the service experience to their learning. Service-learning is a high-impact practice.

The built-in grading tool for CarmenCanvas. Instructors can use SpeedGrader when grading discussions, submissions, assignments, or open-ended questions that are not automatically graded as part of a quiz. SpeedGrader enables an instructor to move seamlessly from one student's work to the next with as few clicks as possible. Instructors grading on a mobile platform can use the Canvas Teacher app to grade via SpeedGrader. Learn more about SpeedGrader.

In CarmenCanvas, the various ways students can submit an assignment. Submission types may be one or more of the following: online text entry, website URL, media recording, file upload, paper submission, no submission, or submission via an external tool integrated within Carmen. Submission types do not apply to Discussions or Quizzes.

Methods of assessment that measure student learning by comparing it to a standard. These types of assessments are typically "high-stakes" and measure achievement of learning outcomes after the learning has taken place, such as at the end of a unit, module, or course. Unlike formative assessment, summative assessment opportunities focus more on product than process, are less frequent, and are usually graded.  

Examples of summative assessment include final papers or projects, presentations, end-of-module quizzes, exams, and student portfolios.

In CarmenCanvas, a type of quiz that can be graded or ungraded. Graded surveys post to the course gradebook while ungraded surveys are a way for instructors to gain feedback from students. More information regarding surveys can be found in the Quizzes section of the Canvas Instructor Guide on Canvas Community.

A place in each CarmenCanvas course where, in addition to posting a print syllabus, instructors can display pertinent information relating to components of the course such as the schedule, required technology, office hours, contact information, or grading. The link to the syllabus page can be found in the course navigation section. More information regarding the course syllabus can be found in the syllabus resource in the Canvas Instructor Guide on Canvas Community.

Learning that happens when all students engage in the same activities simultaneously. Examples of synchronous learning activities include real-time discussions and livestreamed lectures. Many synchronous learning activities are facilitated using web conferencing technology. CarmenZoom is Ohio State’s centrally supported web conferencing platform. More information regarding this tool can be found on the CarmenZoom page.

The strategies and practices through which an instructor might instill their presence within an online course, typically through a combination of instructional activities, direct facilitation, and purposeful course design. There are numerous strategies through which instructors might build teaching presence into their courses, such as regularly scheduled communications with the class via announcements and check-ins, substantive participation in class discussions (e.g., Carmen discussions or synchronous sessions), and personalized feedback on course assignments.

Refers to the research-based finding that long-term memory of content is often increased when an instructor asks students to recall previously covered material. Also known as retrieval practice.

A simple and common active learning strategy in which students work with a peer to respond to a question or solve a problem. Students 1) think individually about the question or problem, 2) discuss their ideas with a classmate, and 3) share their joint answer or solution with the entire class. 

A web-based student response system that allows instructors to create an interactive lecture experience for students. Top Hat enables an instructor to poll students, present discussion prompts, display lecture material, track attendance, and sync grades with CarmenCanvas. Students can respond to Top Hat questions and prompts using the devices they already own, such as smartphones, laptops or tablets. Learn more about Top Hat.

An evidence-based framework for assignment design that supports students' success by making the learning process clear to them. Developed by Mary-Ann Winkelmes in 2009, the TILT process for planning a transparent assignment centers around deciding—and then communicating to students—three key components of the assignment: purpose, tasks, and criteria for success.

Read more about Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT).

Ohio State's easy-to-use professional website platform that can help you create blogs, showcase your work, host course assignments and more. Learn more about U.OSU.

Principles and best practices for ensuring that all activities, assignments, outcomes, and instructional methods are designed in such a way that all students have multiple ways to interact with the content and be assessed on their learning. The three key principles underpinning UDL are multiple means of representation (information is presented in multiple ways), multiple means of expression (students are provided with a variety of opportunities and ways to demonstrate their learning), and multiple means of engagement (there are multiple ways for students to interact with course content and with one another). Learn more about Universal Design for Learning.

Learning technology tools that have been researched, vetted, licensed, and are supported by the university, usually by the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI) or by a particular college. These tools have been determined to meet university policies, including those for privacy, data security, and accessibility. Faculty, staff, and students can get direct support with these tools by calling the IT Service Desk. University-supported tools include CarmenCanvas, CarmenZoom, Mediasite, PebblePad, Secured Media Library, Top Hat, and U.OSU. Learn more about university-supported tools. 

University-vetted tools have been researched or vetted usually by the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI) or by a particular college.  These tools have been determined to meet university policies, including those for privacy, data security, and accessibility. However, unlike university-supported tools, they are not licensed or supported university-wide. They may or may not be licensed and supported by your department or unit. Learn more about university-vetted tools. 

A video or interactive experience that mirrors the live experience of visiting a location. Virtual field trips are often accompanied by interviews or narrations from knowledgeable experts onsite. Virtual field trips help distance educators ensure that students learning online can still experience locations pertinent to their course. Virtual field trips can occur as a series of 360-degree videos with other embedded digital assets that produce stunning narratives or contain interesting information for our students.

A laboratory activity where students conduct simulated experiments through a computer.

A fully immersive environment in which a user experiences a completely computer-generated world. The sensory experiences are provided by computer simulation. With current technology, a VR user still moves through a physical real-world environment, but the user's input is translated into the virtual world, often at a 1:1 ratio. As costs continue to fall and systems continue to develop, virtual reality will likely become an incredible instructional tool to replicate inherently dangerous situations in the safety of a classroom, such as flight simulators.

A module at the start of a course that welcomes and orients students to the class. This module may include resources students need before beginning the course, such as the syllabus, a list of required technology, or links to campus resources; information on what to expect of the course or how to complete it; an introduction to or bio of the instructor; and a means through which students can first encounter their peers, such as a discussion board.

The CarmenZoom whiteboard feature allows you to share a virtual whiteboard in meetings that you and other participants (if allowed) can collaboratively annotate on. Learn more about using Zoom's whiteboard.

The multimedia equivalent of "chalk talk" lectures from face-to-face courses, where the instructor writes or draws on the whiteboard to illustrate course concepts to students. Instructors can replicate this in the online space through whiteboarding applications such as Explain Everything that draw out and explain visual concepts using diagrams, graphs, or equations. The Denney Digital Union provides a user-friendly video studio where instructors can record a "lightboard" lecture. These lectures feature instructors standing behind a plate of transparent glass and delivering their "chalk talk" to the camera. Lightboard lectures can help instructors amplify their presence within the course, as students can see their instructor in the video.

The capacity of writing to help structure writers' thinking, reflect on learning, or explore undeveloped ideas. Writing to learn activities are often lower stakes assignments—ungraded or lightly weighted in assessment—and can scaffold larger, more formal assignments.